The Secret of the Mansion (2 page)

“Poor Mr. Frayne,” she murmured. “He was never the same again. He left his car right there on the road where it had broken down and never allowed another

automobile on the place after that.” She added slowly, “I wonder what happened to the summerhouse. You used to be able to see it quite plainly from here.”

12 9 But Trixie was no longer looking at the Frayne mansion. She was looking in the opposite direction.

“Moms, Moms!” she cried. “Something’s going on up at the Manor House. See all those vans? Somebody must be moving in.”

Mrs. Belden turned and glanced up at the huge estate which bounded Crabapple Farm on the west. “Why, yes, Trixie,” she said. “I meant to tell you last night,

but you were too excited about that horse to listen. A family named Wheeler moved in yesterday. Your father met Mr. Wheeler at the bank. He has a daughter

about your age and told Dad he hoped you’d run up and see her.”

“Oh, Mother,” Trixie interrupted excitedly. “Do you see what I see? Horses! Horses being led out toward the stables. Couldn’t I go up right now and meet

Mr. Wheeler’s daughter?”

Mrs. Belden smiled. “Well, I guess it’s all right. But what about your job?”

Trixie saw her little brother racing across the lawn with Reddy at his heels.

“I’ll take Bobby with me,” she said quickly, “so you won’t have to worry about him. Come on, Bobby, hurry up.” Trixie pulled open the gate so hard she almost

tore it off its hinges.

13 10 “Hey!” Bobby shouted as he started down the path to the gate. “Where’re you going? Can I go, too? Wait for me, Trixie.”

The middle of the path was rough with partially exposed tree roots, and Bobby tripped, as he often did, and sprawled in the red-brown dust. Trixie stared

at him with disgust. “Oh, Bobby, Bobby,” she cried, “now you’re all dirty. You can’t go calling on rich people looking like that!”

Bobby scrambled to his feet, rubbing the dirt into his moist skin as he tried to brush it off. “Hey!” He grinned. “What rich people? Do I look all right

now, Trixie? I wanna go calling on rich people.”

Trixie turned to her mother in despair. “Do I have to take him, Mother? Do I have to?”

Mrs. Belden shrugged her shoulders. “That depends on whether or not you feel a horse is worth working for. You could, of course, finish thinning the carrots

instead, and there’s an hour’s dusting to do indoors.”

“Oh, all right, Moms.” Trixie grabbed Bobby’s grimy hand. She was tired of working in the garden, and she despised any kind of housework. “But first I’ll

wash you up,” she told the little boy, “and put a clean sunsuit on you. And for heaven’s sake, Bobby, when you

14 11 meet these people, don’t tell them I said they were rich, and please try to stop yelling ‘Hey’ all the time.”

Ten minutes later, Trixie and Bobby began the long climb up the Manor House driveway with Reddy racing ahead of them. At the turn in the road, a fat little

cocker spaniel rushed down to meet them. Right behind the puppy was a tall thin girl whose pale face was framed in shoulder-length, light-brown hair. She

cringed as Reddy, disdainfully ignoring the black puppy, raced around her in circles, barking furiously.

“Don’t Pay any attention to him,” Trixie cried quickly, seeing that her new neighbor was really frightened. “He’s just showing off. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.

I’m Trixie Belden,” she went on hurriedly. “My kid brother and I live, in the hollow in that little white frame house Crabapple Farm, you know.”

The girl stared solemnly from Trixie to Bobby and back again. “How do you do?” she said, holding out her slender hand. “My name is Honey-Honey Wheeler.”

Trixie shook hands, feeling rather foolish at such a display of formality. Oh, my, she thought, almost sick with disappointment, she’s stuck-up. Mo would

go around in a white linen dress and stockings and sandals unless there’s a party? Aloud she asked, without much hope, “DD you ride horseback?”

16 12 Honey smiled, then. “Oh, yes,” she said. “Do you?” Trixie shook her head ruefully. “No, but I want to

learn like anything. The only thing I have to ride is a babyish old bike. But I’m earning the money now to buy a horse just as soon as I can.”

“A bike?” Honey’s smile widened, and Trixie had to admit that the girl was really pretty in a pale sort of way. “I wish I had a bike,” she said wistfully.

“Mother wouldn’t let me have one in the city because of traffic, and the rest of the time I was at boarding school and camp where they’re not allowed.”

Timidly she moved a step nearer to Trixie. “I’ll teach you how to ride horseback,” she offered. “Then perhaps you would show me how to ride a bike.”

Trixie could hardly believe her ears. “That’s great,” she gasped. “Let’s start right away. I mean the horseback part. I can teach you how to ride a bike

any time.” She turned impatiently to Bobby, who was joyously cuddling the cocker spaniel puppy. “You go home now, Bobby, and play in the sand pile.”

Bobby ignored her and grinned up at Honey. “Are you rich?” he demanded. “Hey! What’s it like to be rich?” Trixie felt her cheeks flame hotly, but Honey

merely

smiled and said, “It’s not nice at all, Bobby. I can’t remember when I didn’t want to be like other people.” She

17 13 turned shyly toward Trixie and added, “When I was little, my nurses never let me play in the dirt the way Bobby is now, and I was never allowed to

go any place by myself for fear of being kidnapped.” She stopped suddenly as her enormous hazel eyes filled with tears. “I hardly ever saw my father and

mother until I got sick. And now they’ve bought this big old place just for me. But what good is it? What good is anything if you’re never allowed to have

any fun?”

Trixie could never bear to see anyone unhappy. “Gee,” she said, putting her arm sympathetically around Honey’s thin shoulders. “I never thought about it

like that. I always thought it would be wonderful to have a lot of money.” She stopped as the word money gave her an idea. “I tell you what let’s do.”

She whirled Honey around and pointed across the woods to Ten Acres, which she called Miser’s Mansion in her own mind. “See that big old gray and yellow

house on the opposite hill?”

Honey nodded and dabbed at her eyes with a dainty handkerchief.

“Well,” Trixie went on excitedly, “a crazy old man lives there all alone. Dad took him to the hospital this morning, so this is a swell time to explore.

I’ve always wanted to see what the inside of the house was like.”

“Trixie Belden!” Honey gasped in a shocked voice.

18 14 “You wouldn’t really break into somebody’s house!”

“Of course not.” Trixie grinned. “Old Mr. Frayne would probably have me thrown in jail if I did such a thing. But there’s no reason why we couldn’t peek

in through a window. You know what they say in the village?” she demanded. “They say there’s a half million dollars hidden there. Let’s go!”

“I wouldn’t go near that creepy old place,” Honey said firmly. “And I don’t believe there’s any money hidden there. Why, the house is practically falling

to pieces, and it hasn’t been painted in ages.”

“How do you know all that?” Trixie demanded impatiently. “You can’t see it that clearly from here.”

“I was there early this morning,” Honey explained. “Daddy and I were out riding, and we went up that old driveway thinking it was a road to the woods. We

didn’t realize that it led to the Mansion until we were halfway up. Then, of course, we knew we were trespassing, so we turned around. It looked like a

deserted house to me, and I was glad to get away from there. Nobody would want to live in such a horrible, rundown place.”

Trixie bent down and fumbled with her shoelace to

hide the disappointment on her face. She’s worse than I thought she was at first, she thought. A silly old fraidy cat. Aloud she said coldly, “Of course,

a lot of people

20 15 think old Mr. Frayne went crazy after his wife died, and he lost all his money. That’s why the place is rundown. Anyway, I’m going to look around

there while Mr. Frayne’s in the hospital. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“Are you sure he’s in the hospital?” Honey asked, suddenly,

Trixie straightened up. “Of course. Dad took him in early this morning. He’s not expected to live.”

“That’s funny,” Honey said slowly. “We were there about an hour ago. As we rode down the hill, I got the creepy feeling you get when you know somebody you

can’t see is watching you. I looked back over my shoulder quickly, and I saw a face at one of the windows.” She shivered slightly. “I’ll bet that house

is haunted!”

21 16

Through the Hedge

Trixie hooted with laughter. “You’re just imagining things,” she said. “I never heard of anything so silly.”

Honey bit her lip. “Naturally, I don’t really believe in ghosts,” she said in a hurt voice, “but I did see a face at the window.”

“Oh, skip it,” Trixie said impatiently. “If you’re really scared, I’ll explore up there myself some other time. Right now, I can hardly wait to get on a

horse.” She gave Honey a little push. “Go on and change into dungarees.”

Honey stared at her. “I haven’t any dungarees,” she said slowly. “I always wear a habit and boots when I ride.”

,, What difference does it make what you wear?” Trixie interrupted. She wheeled around to where Bobby was rolling in the grass with the puppy. “Go on home

now,” she wheedled. “If you’re a good boy this morning, I’ll play with you all afternoon. It’s a promise.”

Bobby giggled as the puppy licked his face. “Don’t want to go home. Want to stay here and play with the puppy. Hey, what’s his name, anyway?” he asked Honey.

22 17 “Bud.” Honey smiled. “Bobby doesn’t have to go home, Trixie,” she said quietly. “He can stay here with my governess. Miss Trask won’t mind keeping

an eye on him. She’s really very nice, you know. She’s not like the other ones who were perfectly horrible. Oh, here she comes now.”

Around the bend in the driveway appeared a trim, middle-aged woman with very short, crisp, gray hair. She was wearing a tailored slack suit and sturdy looking

brown and white oxfords. She had bright blue eyes which twinkled merrily as she caught sight of Bobby frolicking with the puppy.

“What have we here?” she asked with a friendly smile. “So you’ve found some playmates already, Honey?”

“Oh, yes,” Honey cried. “This is Trixie Belden and her brother, Bobby. They live in that darling little farmhouse down in the hollow. We were just about

to go riding.”

Trixie, slightly awed in the presence of such an unknown creature as a governess, mumbled, “How do you do?”

Bobby scrambled to his feet. “Hey,” he shouted, tossing his silky curls in Honey’s direction. “She said you’d keep an eye on me while they ‘splore. Trixie’s

23 18 supposed to, you know, instead of weeding, but I won’t tell if you play games with me.”

Trixie felt like shaking the little boy, but Miss Trask held out her hand to him, laughing. “Of course, I’ll play games with you. Run along, Honey, and

have a nice ride through the woods with your new friend.” She glanced approvingly at Trixie’s dungarees. “It’s a pity you have to bother to change, Honey,”

she said. “Now that we’re in the country, you really ought to dress the way Trixie does. I’ll speak to your mother right away about getting you some blue

jeans and loafers.”

Honey threw her arms impulsively around her governess. “Oh, Miss Trask, will you? You’re such an angel. And will you also ask her if I can have a bike,

too? Trixie’s going to teach me how to ride one. I’ve wanted a bike ever since I can remember.” She ran off toward the

house, her pale face flushed with pleasure.

Trixie stared after her, thinking, she’s Just like a poor little rich girl in a storybook. Imagine having to ask your governess to ask your mother for something!

It’s no wonder she acts so queer, sometimes.

Miss Trask turned to Trixie as Honey went into the house to change. As though reading Trixie’s mind, Miss Trask said quietly, “It’s truly shameful the way

that child has been brought up. I mean to see to it that a lot

24 19 of changes are made. She has just recovered from a long illness and is still rather nervous. I’d like her to get as tanned and strong as you are.

Will you help me, Trixie?”

Trixie looked down at the toe of her shoe, embarrassed. “Why, sure,” she said huskily. “I don’t know exactly what you mean, Miss Trask, but I’ll help. Of

course I will.”

“Good.” Miss Trask swung Bobby’s hand as they strolled up the sloping driveway and back to the newly white-washed stable where tall stalks of pink and red

hollyhocks grew in profusion. A broad-shouldered, pleasant-faced man was grooming a big black horse, and Miss Trask called out to him.

“Good morning, Regan. This is Miss Trixie Belden. Will you saddle a couple of horses, so she and Honey can explore the woods?” She smiled at Trixie. “Have

fun. Don’t worry about Bobby. I’ll let him play in the wading pool until you come back.”

“Thanks,” Trixie said, staring entranced at the big gleaming horse. She sucked in a deep breath of the air that was fragrant with the smell of clean horses